Pentagon to Deputize Military Lawyers to Serve as Temporary Immigration Judges

The judges will be drawn from the ranks of active-duty Judge Advocate officers as well as Department of Defense civilian attorneys.

Federal agents patrol the halls of immigration court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York City on Aug. 6, 2025. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Defense on Sept. 2 announced that it would deputize U.S. military officers and certain civilian attorneys to the Department of Justice to work, temporarily, as immigration judges.

The military attorneys will be granted authority to preside over Immigration Court hearings, which are held when the government wants to remove a foreign national—whether an illegal immigrant or lawfully admitted—from the United States. The Department of Defense (DOD) said that the attorneys had been requested by the Department of Justice, and will help reduce Immigration Courts’ arrears, which currently number 3.4 million cases.

“At the request of the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense is identifying qualified Judge Advocates and civilian attorneys for details to serve as Temporary Immigration Judges. These DOD attorneys will augment existing resources to help further combat a backlog of cases by presiding over immigration hearings,” chief spokesman for the Pentagon Sean Parnell wrote. The statement said the department had “[no] additional details to provide at this time.”

The department did not state the number of attorneys it was deputizing, though the Associated Press reported that 600 would be provided, per a memo they reviewed.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The news comes as the Trump administration seeks to rapidly increase the number of immigration judges hearing cases. On Aug. 28 the administration issued new regulations permitting any federal government attorney to serve as an immigration judge. Previously, only former immigration judges, administrative law judges from other agencies, or DOJ attorneys with at least 10 years of immigration law experience were permitted to serve as temporary immigration judges.

However, a budget bill enacted on July 4—known more commonly as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—imposed a limitation on the number of such judges, to just 800 starting on Nov. 1, 2028.

A division of the DOJ, known as the Executive Office of Immigration Review, runs all immigration courts across the country. Unlike most federal judges—such as those of district and appellate courts, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States—immigration judges are civil servants and appointed directly by the executive branch, without Senate involvement, and their rulings can be reversed by the U.S. Attorney General.

Traditionally, immigration judges have been former immigration attorneys—including former counsel for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is the plaintiff in the deportation process—with expertise in the Immigration and Nationality Act, which comprises most U.S. immigration law. An immigration judge has wide discretion to grant relief to a defendant, which can often prevent their removal from the United States even if they entered the country illegally.

DOD attorneys, by contrast, usually never practice immigration law, as nearly all of the department’s workforce comprises U.S. citizens. Uniformed Judge Advocates, who are U.S. military officers, usually practice in the realms of criminal defense, the laws of armed conflict, and international humanitarian law; while civilian attorneys focus on legislative drafting, contract management, and general counsel. Deputized attorneys, hence, may need additional training in immigration law before they begin service.